The American Civil War, also known as the War of Secession, lasted from April 1861 to June 1865, opposing the Northern states and the Southern states of the United States.

Following the election of Abraham Lincoln, who advocated for the abolition of slavery, several Southern states rejected the presidential proposal and declared themselves the Confederate States of America—commonly referred to as the Confederacy or the Confederates.

Initially rejecting Lincoln’s proposals, the Confederates eventually escalated to open rebellion. In response, the Union states of the North began to blockade the ports of the rebellious Southern states, aiming to disrupt their trade and navigation. This blockade extended along the Atlantic coast, the Gulf of Mexico, and the lower Mississippi River, spanning approximately 3,000 miles. Thus, the war began.

In these circumstances, the Confederates established the Confederate Navy. Among the many ships they acquired by 1864 were four modern steamers known as blockade runners—merchant vessels designed for speed and equipped to evade Union naval blockades. One such vessel was the Run’Her.

The steamship CSS Run’Her was 70 meters long and displaced 343 tons. It was one of four ships built in British shipyards. It departed toward the western Atlantic under the command of Captain Edwin Courtenay. However, it was forced to stop in the Bay of Angra do Heroísmo, where it ran aground on November 5, 1864—either due to a piloting error, a mechanical failure, or, more likely, the captain’s incompetence in refusing local pilot assistance, a standard precaution when entering unfamiliar ports.

The local newspaper O Angrense reported the event:

Disaster – On Saturday the 5th of the current month, around noon, the English steamer Reinher, 343 tons, Captain E. Courtenay, with a crew of 51 and carrying food supplies, arrived from London bound for Bermuda, having been at sea for four days.

As it entered the port at full speed, it passed between anchored vessels and veered too close to shore, grounding near the customs quay, just a short distance away. The captain, whose recklessness caused this accident, tried to reverse the ship, but his efforts failed. It was the ship’s maiden voyage. The captain acted hastily; had he waited for the pilot, he could have anchored safely near another steamer already in port. Such African-style recklessness is costly to shipowners and can damage the port’s reputation.

The article places full responsibility on Captain Courtenay for recklessly entering the bay “at full speed”—a clear act of overconfidence. He likely shouted commands such as “stop the engine” or even “reverse engines,” but the system either failed or responded too late, causing the Run’Her to run aground next to the Customs House quay.

On December 8, the ship was declared a total loss. Most of the crew traveled on to Lisbon, and the process of salvaging and auctioning the ship’s remains began. However, on December 19, a violent storm completely destroyed the Run’Her.

Approximately 132 years later, in 1996, during archaeological assessments of the site designated for the new marina in Angra do Heroísmo, the remains of three vessels were discovered. One of them was conclusively identified as the Run’Her.

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